A two-year international course providing a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical training, equipping you to manage and curate the digital information and digital assets of organisations across public and private sectors. Students study for one year at King’s and one year at Humboldt University Berlin, and choose from an exceptional range of options covering different aspects of digital curation.
Reasons you should consider the MA in Digital Curation are:
This King’s-Humboldt joint MA in Digital Curation is a two-year course involving one academic year of study at each institution. It offers you access to the combined talents of two world-class departments.
Digital content and digital technologies are a defining feature of our age. Digital data, information and knowledge are an asset for cultural heritage, memory institutions, industry, commerce and government. They are fundamental for research and practice in fields such as the law and medicine. As individuals we increasingly communicate and record our lives and our memories in digital form. But digital information is fragile and complex and requires ongoing and active curation as we seek to ensure its longevity and innovate in its use, and exploit its social, cultural and commercial value.
This course will give you the core skills, knowledge and competencies you need to become a leader in the rapidly expanding field of digital curation. You will study a wide range of subjects including metadata, preservation, knowledge representation, digital libraries, ethics and rights management, and new digital technologies and methods, including cloud and crowd-sourcing technologies. You will also have an opportunity to undertake an internship to gain workplace experience. We want you to acquire a great deal of practical knowledge, but even more we want you to develop your critical and reflective capacities, and to acquire an understanding of the inter-dependence of developments in digital processes, technology and curatorial practice. This MA will also provide an excellent grounding if you are interested in going on to a PhD in Digital Curation or a related area.
The MA in Digital Curation is designed to prepare students for leadership roles in organisations and enterprises with significant volumes of digital information and knowledge. The course responds to the increasing demand for digitally literate professionals to work in education and heritage institutions, as well as wider industry by equipping students with a range of strategic, technical and practical skills to provide direction and leadership in the curation of digital information and assets.
Take a look at Humboldt info here
Find out more info about preparing for your stay in Germany
Info about what you need to submit to enrol at Humboldt
Teaching
In your first year, Humboldt University will provide 300 hours of teaching through lectures and seminars, and they will expect you to undertake 1,200 hours of independent study.
In your second year we will provide you with 110 hours of teaching through lectures and seminars, and we will expect you to undertake 984 hours of independent study.
Assessment
You will be assessed through a combination of coursework and exams.
Students spend four semesters over the course of two years on the programme: two consecutive semesters at Humboldt and two semesters at King's, beginning the programme at Humboldt in all cases.
All teaching will be in English.
More information about the Digital Curation programme at Humboldt.
This innovative new course offers the opportunity to gain both the vital skills and critical awareness necessary to pursue a career in the diverse areas of contemporary film curation and exhibition, whether within the industry or within the field of research. This could include curation within a museum or arts centre; festival management; exhibition, both theatrical and online; or cinema programming.
A range of placements with industry partners including The Tetley, a leading centre for contemporary art housed in the former Tetley brewery, and Leeds International Film Festival, will allow you to see this in action, providing you with the practical skills you need to successfully curate and exhibit films.
Classroom-based modules will explain the theory behind programming, archiving and film exhibition using case studies including cinemas, art galleries and festivals amongst others.
You will be joining the Northern Film School, one of the best-known film and television schools in the UK, whose staff and students have been making innovative and award-winning films for more than 25 years. In this collaborative environment, you will work alongside filmmaking students, sharing ideas and inspiration with fellow creative professionals.
Industry visitors and successful alumni will visit to share their experiences and you will have the opportunity to build your networks through film festival visits and events at the University. Previous students have visited CineYouth Film Festival in Chicago and regularly show their work at Sheffield DocFest. Our academic staff have premiered their films at FrightFest. Leeds is also home to the Leeds International Film Festival, so you will have ample opportunity to see how a professional event is run by experiencing it yourself.
The School's research expertise will feed into your learning, helping you to understand the context of different audiences. For example, the Film School's CINAGE project which began in 2013, explores the EU's recommendations for healthy, active ageing by engaging older people in contemporary cinema.
You will be taught by expert staff including Visiting Lecturer Jason Wood who helped to develop the course. Jason is the Artistic Director of Film at HOME, Manchester. He is also a Research Professor of Film at Manchester School of Art and the co-director (with Simon Barker) of the experimental Ballard adaptation Always (crashing). Previous publications for Faber include: The Faber Book of Mexican Cinema, Nick Broomfield: Documenting Icons and The Curzon Faber Book of New British Cinema (with Ian Haydn Smith). He is currently completing a memoir with Green Gartside/Scritti Politti and writing a history of recent Iranian Cinema (both for Faber).
Keith Dando, who heads the School's taught postgraduate programmes, has an extensive range of experience in film marketing, distribution and exhibition. Keith has curated a nimber of film screenings, including Northern Film School showcases at the Leeds International Film Festival and The Royal Armouries, and was co-founder, director and programmer of the Liverpool Lesbian and Gay Film Festival.
Dr Steven Gerrard has spent many years developing collaborative projects with partners as diverse as Swansea Football Club, the Musuem of Welsh Life, and the National Trust.
There will also be guest lecturers and masterclasses by current industry film curators and programmers who will ensure that you are kept up to date with the latest developments in the sector as they are happening.
With your specialist knowledge, you could enter a range of diverse careers with film and moving image at their heart. Areas such as film festival programming, archiving and restoration, museum curation, film exhibition and distribution (theatrical and online), community arts and cinema management will all be open to you.
Based within a working gallery and informed by world class research, this degree combines direct experience, behind-the-scenes industry insights and an academic exploration of contemporary curation discourses.
The MA Contemporary Curation is an exceptional opportunity to explore the latest concepts in curation theory and practice while gaining hands-on curatorial experience and industry insights. The course is based on campus, in The Winchester Gallery; from your first week you will be involved in the running of the gallery, from organising exhibitions and producing interpretation materials to marketing and audience development. Co-located with the School’s practising artists, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to collaborate on joint projects and apply your skills. Your practice will be underpinned by your developing knowledge of current curation theories and debates, informed by the School’s internationally recognised expertise in art and design, visual cultural studies, digital and new media theory. Our research-active academics have links with arts organisations and international festivals, opening up a range of additional learning opportunities. You will also be exposed to top professionals in the curatorial field through guest lectures and behind-the-scenes gallery visits.
We welcome students from a range of backgrounds, including fine art and other disciplines. Our diverse intake includes students from many countries, so there is scope to build an international network of contacts while you are on the programme.
View the programme specification document for this course
Our academics’ professional experience and extensive networks mean they can offer ‘insider’ careers guidance and support; through their contacts you may be able to independently set up an internship or work experience.
You will be prepared for a career in existing and emergent curatorial and arts roles within a range of organisations. You could choose to work within a museum, public or private gallery, heritage or cultural organisation, international art fair or biennial, or for an arts or culture publication. Or you might pursue a career in cultural and public policy-making, cultural management and administration, or arts-commissioning and funding. The course is also a good grounding for further study at PhD level, perhaps with a view to an academic career.
The MSc in Film Curation offers you the opportunity to explore film programming in a variety of theoretical, historical and practical contexts. It investigates the material qualities of audio-visual media and explores the history and contemporary practice of projection and exhibition in cinemas, galleries, festivals and online. Throughout the programme you’ll get to work alongside industry-leading experts in film curation through guest lectures and placements, and you’ll be encouraged to respond creatively in both academic and practical exercises.
Students will take:
Teaching methods will include lectures and seminars, workshops led by visiting professionals, and field trips organised to archives and festivals. You will be assessed through a variety of methods including practice-based activities, oral presentations, as well as different written assignments.
A number of industry experts are contributing to the programme through a variety of exciting activities and workshops. In 2016-2017, these include:
The MSc is designed for those with some background in film, television, media or communication studies (or related fields, such as art history) who are contemplating, or developing, a career in curation, community and educational projects, events, research or criticism.
The programme is designed to provide you with a range of skills that will enable you to develop as:
This innovative programme explores film curatorship and exhibition using a combination of rigorous academic study, integrated applied project work and critical thinking. Whether your background is in film, or you are intrigued by its social and cultural significance, you will discover how film meets its audiences and ways in which exhibitions are conceptualised and created in a rapidly transforming environment.
The programme draws on the expertise of visiting professionals, including film festival directors, curators, programmers and filmmakers. Through the combination of individual and group work you will learn how to integrate theoretical knowledge and critical thinking with professional skills, such as creative collaboration, programming, establishing industry links, sourcing films, promotion and communicating with diverse audiences.
Project work will enable you to reach out beyond the University to create events, and you will be supported in building collaborations and cross-disciplinary connections that engage with Scotland’s thriving film and festival cultures.
Please visit the Film, Exhibition and Curation blog for updates on activities and alumni.
Teaching and assignment work are integrated with applied activities including group exhibition projects and research into film festivals and expanded film exhibition.
You will be taught in small seminars with individual supervision for your final project (which can take the form of a dissertation, an industry report or a group portfolio charting the conception and delivery of an event or an exhibition or curatorial project).
You will complete three compulsory and two option courses, as well as training in subject-specific research skills and methods.
Compulsory courses:
Option courses may include:
On completion of the programme you will be equipped with the insights and skills essential for a career in film programming, festival organisation and related professional activities.
You will have gained the knowledge of film curation and exhibition required for further academic research or professional practice. You will also have a transferable skill set in communication, research, collaborative working and project management that can be applied to any career you decide to pursue.
Exploring the idea of “exhibition” in its broadest sense across the field of contemporary art, you’ll engage with gallery-based exhibitions and projects in non-traditional venues, site-specific interventions and public art projects.
Reflecting the latest thinking across curatorial studies, this practical and relevant postgraduate course acknowledges the emergence of the artist-curator, as well as more traditional routes to curatorial practice.
You’ll consider the possibilities offered by a range of platforms, from traditional museum collections, museology and archives, to virtual and interactive methods.
With strong links to the Arts Council Collection, Hayward Touring, Tate, Norwich Castle Museum & Gallery – as well as other local, regional and national galleries and museums – NUA is the ideal environment in which to study curatorial practice.
The University’s own gallery, East GalleryNUA, is an important touring venue for national and international exhibitions and has helped cement NUA’s reputation for high quality curatorial practice. East GalleryNUA hosted the British Art Show 8 in 2016 and the prestigious EASTinternational between 1991 and 2009.
A training programme delivered by the gallery as part of our MA Curation programme provides a unique opportunity to develop your professional practice. A mentoring scheme with curators – exclusive for postgraduate students studying this degree – offers invaluable opportunities to engage with industry professionals.
You’ll be aided in developing self-initiated curatorial projects, which will see you innovating and exploring ways to cultivate new audiences.
Our innovative MA in Film and Television builds on its prestigious heritage as the longest running degree programme of its kind in the UK. We aim to equip you with wide-ranging skills, knowledge and critical awareness to meet your career aspirations in sectors in which moving images play a central role. Our curriculum incorporates an exciting variety of learning and teaching activities designed to foster your capacity for researching and rigorously analysing different aspects of film, television and moving images. You will have the opportunity to develop key skills for communicating about and with moving images across a range of contexts and platforms. You can choose to have a broad-based learning experience in film, television and moving image, or you can specialise in moving image curation and screenwriting via our suggested pathways.
The core teaching team consists of members of the Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design. The course has close links with the Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media (CREAM), the leading research centre in the UK for arts and design, whose members include internationally renowned filmmakers, film and television theorists and historians, and moving image artists and curators. We combine research-enhanced teaching with classes delivered by film and television industry and moving image art professionals, in order to make sure that you develop the skill sets and the full range of critical awareness that is in demand and to deliver an exciting learning experience for you.
The course combines core and optional taught modules. The design and delivery of our taught modules draw on CREAM’s research excellence in documentary, Asian and European cinema, moving image curation, and television history. The coursework requirements for some modules are research essays or a combination of research essays and research-informed blog posts and presentations. Other modules require a broad range of research-informed professional modes of writing such as a screenplay treatment, a curatorial proposal or an exhibition review. You will also undertake a substantial piece of independent research as a major part of your MA studies. In order to provide you with the flexibility to undertake a piece of independent research suited to your career aspiration, the final project module offers you the choice between writing a traditional dissertation or completing a theoretically-informed professional project such as a curating a film programme, writing and producing a series of themed blog posts, or writing a long-form screenplay.
The course is taught in two modes: full-time and part-time.
Full-time Postgraduate students study 180 credits per year. For the award of MA in Film, Television and Moving Image, you must complete two core taught modules, four optional modules and a 60-credit final project module, for a total of 180 credits.
The course structure includes two suggested pathways for those wishing to specialise in film programming and moving image curation, or in screenwriting.
The following modules are indicative of what you will study on this course
Core modules
Core modules provide you with a set of key skills for the theoretical, critical and reflective understanding of moving images.
Optional modules
Optional modules give you the freedom to choose areas of specialisation. The course leaders can advise on which modules best fit your interests. You have the choice to pursue specialised interests through your choice of optional modules and coursework assignments. If you are not sure which optional modules to choose or fit your interests best, or which types of final project work to produce to best develop your area of specialisation, you should discuss this question individually with the course leaders and you should aim to do so early on in the academic year.
The course structure includes two suggested pathways for those wishing to specialise in film programming and moving image curation, or in screenwriting.
We have strongly developed links with key London exhibition and research venues such as the BFI Southbank, ICA, Lux and Close-Up, as well as key critics, theorists, curators and festivals. We offer field visits to these sites as well as festivals like the Rotterdam Film Festival.
Our graduates have found employment in small- and large-scale film and television companies as filmmakers, producers, distributors, and exhibitors. Others have gone on to organise film festivals, or to work in film-related magazines and journals as well as in international arts and culture sectors. Some of our recent graduates have gone on to pursue academic careers as researchers or doctoral students at the University of Westminster and elsewhere. As the UK’s longest-running postgraduate programme in film and television several of our alumni are pioneers of the discipline of film and television studies.
The programme provides you with an understanding of contemporary information and records management issues. It pays special attention to the management of digital records and electronic resources, and how to manage these alongside analogue resources.
You will develop skills in the core competencies of archives, records, and information management, creating and managing digital records, digital curation and preservation issues, archival theory, user needs, and description,
cataloguing, and navigation.
The programme consists of six courses spread over two semesters. You will take courses in:
Optional courses include:
To graduate with the MSc you will also need to complete a course in research methods and professional studies, and produce a dissertation.
As a graduate, you will be well placed for a career as an archivist, records manager or digital curator within a variety of public and private organisations.
Positions held by recent graduates include Assistant Archivist and Records Manager.
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